Shougi
by Persnikitty
Summary: One-Shot: Why Shikamaru Never Plays Shougi With Shino. Not Yaoi. Shame that I actually have to add this.


Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Kishimoto Masashi.

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**Why Shikamaru Never Plays Shougi With Shino**

It was the day of Team Placements, and though saddened that she wasn't on the same team as Uchiha Sasuke, Ino consoled herself with mooning over his profile, seen in the window of the empty building across the way where he always ate his lunch. As far as she knew, this would be the last time his otherworldly charm and flawless skin would grace her lunch-hour.

Her eyes widened, and then narrowed dangerously as she saw Uzumaki Naruto sneak towards her Sasuke-kun's location.

"Hey, did you guys see that?" Failing to get a response, she turned her head towards her new and predestined teammates, her gaze and tone sharpening. "I _said_..."

"We heard you troublesome woman. A verbal confirmation is not required for every banal utterance to pass your lips."

"More woman than you'll ever manage, little boy!' stated Ino mockingly, still trying to puzzle out what 'banal' meant from context.

"Um...Ino...you're our age."

"Stow it, Chub..Chouji!" She mentally breathed a sigh of relief that she had caught the insult in time. Ino turned a superior smirk on Shikamaru as he slouched in the shade. "The point still stands! Now, where was I?"

_'Troublesome,'_ Shikamaru thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. If it wasn't the volume, then Ino's attempts at logic always seemed to bring up the worst kinds of headaches. _'I need...something calming, soothing...Shougi.'_

His brow scrunched in thought. _'But there's noone to play...wait...logic...Shino. No...that's no good. Shino cheats!'_

...It was a little over a month ago when he sought out the Aburame for a game over lunch. Shino was always methodical in any given assignment or task, from quizzes to taijutsu spars. Shikamaru couldn't wait to find his measure.

To his hidden surprise, Shino was quick to agree, their game set out under one of the many trees which dotted the Academy grounds.

The joy soon faded, however. While Shikamaru would sit back, only to lean forward to move a piece, Shino never budged at all. Instead, he used his clan's kikai beetles to move the pieces for him, all the while intoning in his classic monotone, "This by the power of my hive mind."

That phrase was repeated every time a bug moved a game piece.

Shino was a good player though, given their age group. Shikamaru felt his esteem grow for the boy, lamenting that he had never approached Shino for a game previously. _'So many wasted years,'_ he thought.

His fingers rested on either side of a tile, twenty minutes into the game with fifteen moves planned in advance. He never let his gaze leave the board and rarely blinked. Even if the game ran long and they were very late returning to class...well, sometimes it was good to be a clan heir.

He tilted the piece up, preparing the sequence which would lead to Shino's eventual capitulation, when something slid off the tile. As the tiny beetle scuttled across the board, it was joined by other tiny beetles. In the span of a blink, the entire board had changed, as those wretched little insects had obscured kanji lines on the game tiles!

Eyes widened and heart racing at the sheer scope of the deception, Shikamaru saw he was only a few moves from losing his first game...ever. The crazy thing was, the most damage done was by his own hand.

His finger rose of its own accord, pointing indignantly at the stoic boy. Shikamaru found his tongue tangled, as he could see that Shino was completely unabashed and unashamed, well, with what Shikamaru could see of his face at any rate.

"You...you cheater!" He could feel his voice cracking from the strain.

"Deception is the calling card of our craft," came the deadpan response. "Is that your move?"

His eyes darted back to the board, wide and feverish.

"Nice clouds we have here," stated his adversary.

It took a force of supreme will not to look up at the sky, his lips twisting in a scowl at how easily he almost made a classic Pavlovian response. _'Damn that Shino!'_

Silently, his hands came together, fingertips touching at the bottom with the thumbs over his navel. Shino's bugs had changed the entire war. Shikamaru needed a plan. He had a game to win...

It wasn't that Shino cheated...well, it was, to be perfectly honest. What made it all that much worse was the sheer audacity, the brazenness, the utter lack of any shame at being caught. It was as if...as if Shino had been goading Shikamaru, taunting him to lose his composure, make a scene over Shougi, shout out in dismay.

He stirred from his musings, flicking an eye over to his teammates. Reading Ino's lips, she was prattling on about shoes or something, and Chouji...Chouji had glazed eyes, a chip frozen in his hand part-ways to his slack mouth. _'I owe you Chouji, taking one for the team and all.'_

Reorienting on his problem, he knew that Shino would be no good. _'Hrm...perhaps my new sensei would be up for a game.'_


End file.
